


Phantom

by DaisyDogOx



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst, Gen, No Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers, Persona 5 Spoilers, Post-Engine Room, so naturally
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:15:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26107819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaisyDogOx/pseuds/DaisyDogOx
Summary: Akira was doing *fine* after the events of Shido's palace. He'd been playing dead while his friends all played the parts of good students.It was just harder to play pretend as the missing person posters went up for a certain Goro Akechi.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36





	Phantom

It had all started with a tabloid. Ann had brought it, partly because she was featured in it and partly because he’d read everything else the library had to offer. Playing dead proved to be incredibly boring and he tore through every book his friends brought him within a day, easily. He’d even turned to reading the textbooks Sojiro had stored away when he’d first moved into the attic.

He didn’t care about most of the articles but he skimmed them anyway, laughing at the trashy celebrity gossip and doing the personality quizzes with Morgana. They decided he was an Aries because he’d been found in Kamoshida’s castle in April.

Morgana swatted at the page and he turned it for him, and was greeted by a full page spread of some idol he’d seen on TV in handcuffs.

_**Murakami Claims Mental Shutdown! Detective Prince Refuses to Prove Otherwise!** _

“Hey, what’s on the next page?”

The cat’s voice tore him from his daze. “You don’t want to read about… an idol involved in a drunk driving incident?” he asked with a shaky laugh.

“The mental shutdowns are over, he was just being stupid. C’mon, I want to see the part with Lady Ann!”

The date printed on the cover said it was from the previous month, and the so-called Detective Prince had only refused to comment because he was staying out of the spotlight, but it didn’t change the fact that Morgana wasn’t wrong. Of course the mental shutdowns were over. Goro Akechi was dead.

Akira almost wished it was the real deal, because at least then he’d have something to distract himself with. Something besides hours spent in his room, rereading books he’d practically memorized, making more lockpicks than they’d ever possibly need. But he didn’t get that distraction. It had already been decided when they’d send the calling card, when they’d take down Masayoshi Shido, and when he’d finally be free again. He was left staring at the ceiling every night and remembering the sheer desperation in Akechi’s voice before he sacrificed himself so they could escape.

“Akiraaaaa,” Morgana whined, and he realized he’d zoned out again. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“What page did Ann say she was on again?”

* * *

Going out was always a risk. While he’d never shown his face as Joker--not _yet_ , as Futaba often reminded him--he’d made himself known around Tokyo. A number of people knew his secret, and although he trusted them not to tell anyone, it would be all too easy for someone to overhear their conversations.

He appreciated the thrill. It was the same rush of adrenaline he got when facing a shadow he’d never seen before. Weaknesses and resistances unknown, he had to calculate his every move or else he’d wind up dead.

Though it was a breeze for Mona to bring him back with a Samarecarm, and he’d never felt more alive in those moments than right before a shadow killed him.

That day he was waiting in the underground walkway for Ryuji. The boy was the easiest to convince to kill time. Makoto had said that if he was insistent on leaving Leblanc, they should spend their time training in Mementos instead of goofing off and putting everyone in danger because he wanted to have a little fun. Akira had just laughed and told her they were practically over-prepared before texting his fellow delinquent about a movie that had just come out.

Morgana had opted to stay behind that day, and he found himself missing the cat. He made for good conversation, if nothing else.

Ryuji was running late and he began absentmindedly reading the bulletin board behind him. Girls offering babysitting services, Big Bang Burger promoting their new special, and various places on Central Street advertising that they were hiring. He almost took a slip for one of those but decided against it. He was set to leave the city in a matter of months. It wouldn’t look good to get a job and then disappear so soon, even if he was sick of his other ones.

A flash of brown caught his eye and he shifted the other papers out of the way, though he immediately regretted it as a familiar smile greeted him. It was his school photo, a slight smile tugging at his lips that didn’t reach his eyes.

_Missing Person_  
_Goro Akechi_  
_Last seen on December 4, wearing a high school uniform._  
_Age 18 / Red-Brown eyes / Light brown hair / 178cm / 64kg_

_If you have any information whatsoever, please call:_

The rest of it had been torn off. He ran a finger along the jagged edge and wondered who’d done such a thing, whether a fan of the Phantom Thieves rather than him, or a member of the Conspiracy. Or maybe just some stranger who didn’t have an opinion.

Someone clapped a hand to his shoulder and he whipped around, already making a fist and ready to start swinging.

“Hey, it’s just me.”

He didn’t unclench his fist but snorted as he took in the boy in front of him. “Why are you wearing that?”

He pulled down the flu mask and frowned. “We’re supposed to be undercover or something, yeah?”

“You look like you’re about to rob someone and know you’ll get caught on camera, but don’t want them to know who you are.”

“What?! Celebrities pull off this kind of look all the time!”

Akira knocked his hat off. “You’re not a celebrity. Not one that the public knows, anyway. And lose the sunglasses too. Undercover doesn’t mean hide your identity, it means _blend in_. You’ll get us both caught looking like that.”

“I mean, I guess people were looking at me on the way here… I thought they liked my shirt or something, y’know?”

“It’s truly a miracle it took this long for the police to find us.”

“Shut up! At least I’m not the one wandering the city when I’m supposed to be dead.”

“And yet you agreed to see a movie with me anyway.”

Ryuji tried to punch him but he ducked out of the way. “Race you to the platform?”

“And if security catches us?”

“The great Sprintmaster Sakamoto can’t outrun some subway security?”

He laughed and shook his head, but took his position anyway. “You’re crazy, man.”

Akira didn’t say anything and just took off down the hall, as far from the poster as he could get.

* * *

The café was calm, with it empty save for Sojiro, Futaba, and himself. He was doing dishes and barely listening to the TV while his fellow Phantom Thief tapped away at some game on her phone.

They were going to send their calling card tomorrow and his every nerve was coiled up tighter than a spring. He tried to focus on the water running over his hands but it was hard with the incessant clicking.

“Dammit!” she yelled suddenly, throwing down the phone.

“Language,” Sojiro said without looking up from his paper.

“You try nailing a nine hundred combo and then missing the very last note,” she grumbled, although she didn’t seem too bothered since she picked it up and immediately went back to the game.

He was able to ignore the noise as he scrubbed at a particularly stubborn spot on a plate. Things were fine.

Then Sojiro grabbed the remote and changed the channel without warning.

_“It’s now been two weeks since Goro Akechi, famed Detective Prince, went missing and fans have started to assume the worst. There have been reports that he hasn’t been home since his disappearance. Akechi was one of the individuals involved in the Phantom Thieves case, and the one who identified their leader so it’s not too much of a stretch to assume that their remaining members--”_

Bile rose in his throat and he dropped the plate and ran to the bathroom, barely making it before he started retching. His hands shook and he gripped the edge of the sink.

“Kid, you okay in there?”

He rested his head against the cool porcelain and squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m fine,” he said, but winced at how his voice cracked.

His phone buzzed and he dragged himself upright enough to look at it.

**[Oracle]:** u good??

He almost laughed. Obviously not, if the mere mention of Akechi was enough to send him spiraling.

**[Joker]:** yeah im fine

**[Joker]:** mustve eaten something bad

**[Oracle]:** liar

He rinsed his mouth and took a shuddering breath before leaving the safety of the bathroom.

The first thing he noticed was that the TV was off and Sojiro was refusing to look at him. Futaba must’ve told him.

“You guys can watch whatever, I think I’m just going to bed,” he said quietly.

The girl gasped dramatically. “The Akira I know would _never_ go to bed before spending half the night out with his friends!”

“I told you, I think I ate something-- Hey, I don’t go out _every night_.”

“The bugs don’t lie,” she sing-songed.

“This is an invasion of privacy,” he muttered.

“I should get going too, since there’s a new event dropping tonight for-- I mean, I’m going to go to bed like a responsible person.”

Sojiro just sighed and held out his hand. “Give me your phone.”

She rolled her eyes and did as she was told. Akira didn’t feel like telling him she’d absolutely be using her computer to access the event instead.

“You sure you’re fine?” the man asked, and Akira tried not to look too surprised.

“Yeah, I’ll sleep it off.”

He didn’t look convinced but didn’t push it, and Futaba practically skipped out of the café. Morgana was waiting for him, his tail wrapped around him and flicking occasionally.

“Glad to see you’re finally realizing the importance of a good night’s sleep.”

“Well, tomorrow’s a big day.”

“We’ll be fine. Everything will go the way it’s supposed to, and your name will finally be cleared. The Phantom Thieves’ last job, the one where they save the country.”

He was quiet as he put on his pajamas and flopped back on the mattress, staring up at the plastic stars stuck on the crossbeams.

“...Save the country, huh?”

He looked to his right, where Goro Akechi was sitting at his desk with a sour look on his face. “You can’t save everyone, Kurusu. It’s about time you learned that lesson.”

Akira knew he wouldn’t be sleeping well that night.

**Author's Note:**

> while i am a firm believer in the fact that goro is *not* dead after the engine room, as evident in royal, it makes for some good angst. if you saw me projecting--no you didn't.
> 
> *cough*  
> so i'm not dead! i've been working on a monster project for three months that i didn't want to start posting until it was completely finished because of my spotty history of dropping multi-chaptered works, but i promise something big is coming. i have about four chapters left. univeristy has also started back up and i'm on campus because america said fuck them kids, so we'll see what that does for my motivation.
> 
> comments are always appreciated, they're the only sign that people are really reading for me.


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